Industry Asks Hill for Foreign Sales Reforms

Warnings from top representatives of the US defense industry that the foreign military sales process needs an efficiency upgrade faced scrutiny and skepticism on Capitol Hill on Wednesday from a top Democrat of the House Armed Services Committee.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s director, Vice Adm. Joseph Rixey, is expected to testify before the HASC’s oversight and investigations subcommittee next week, the last in a series of three hearings meant as an in-depth look at FMS. The HASC overall took a modest approach to foreign military sales reform in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act it approved late last month, chiefly asking the Government Accountability Office study the process and report back.

Testifying before the sub-panel on Wednesday, National Defense Industrial Association senior fellow Tom Davis and the Aerospace Industrial Association’s vice president for international affairs Remy Nathan both called for a streamlined approvals process in the face of foreign competition. […]